U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,128 of Harris, Jr., et al., incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference, discloses methods and apparatus "for incorporating pre-personalized signatures within magazines . . . which are intelligently matched to recipient name and address information printed on the covers of the magazines . . . " See Harris, Jr., Abstract, 11. 1-5.
As described therein:
It is often desirable to personalize magazines by printing information specific to the individual recipient inside the magazine. For example, an advertising page in the magazine might be personalized with the name of the recipient and the location of the dealer closest to the recipient's address. Personalization of this type is also widely used in the print media field, and is generally known as on-line personalization or ink-jet personalization--a term derived from the printing device customarily employed.
See id., col. 1, 1. 67 through col. 2, 1. 8.
To accomplish the intended results of its disclosed methods and apparatus, the Harris, Jr. patent describes processes involving "pre-personalizing off-line signatures with personalization information including machine readable indicia." These signatures are then loaded into binding-line hoppers and deposited between "chain pins" on conveyors. A symbol-reading device deciphers the indicia and generates the name and address of the recipient of each printed document and, using an ink-jet printer forming part of the binding line, prints the address information on the cover signature of that particular document. See id., col. 6, 11. 45-63.
Conventionally, personalization of printed documents such as magazines or catalogs has been restricted to an area of a central insert (such as an order form or advertising page) and, as discussed in the Harris, Jr. patent, the cover. Size, space, and speed limitations relating to binding lines and ink-drying times, in particular, preclude effective use of on-line ink-jet printers for personalizing documents beyond creating relatively few characters of address or other information. Thus, traditional magazines and catalogs made in high-volume binding lines contain little true personalization of their contents.